President Donald Trump’s moves to freeze spending on foreign aid and overhaul, maybe even end, the U.S. Agency for International Development have been lauded in Iranian state media. The reports say the decisions will halt funding for opponents of the country’s Shiite theocracy — pro-democracy activists and others supported through programs as part of U.S. government’s efforts to help democracy worldwide (Read more at AP).
As he signed the memo, Trump described it as very tough and said he was torn on whether to make the move. He said he was open to a deal with Iran and expressed a willingness to talk to the Iranian leader (Read more at Armen Press).
Iran will respond immediately and decisively if its nuclear sites are attacked, which would lead to an “all-out war in the region”, Tehran’s Foreign Minister said. Araqchi suggested that the United States could free blocked Iranian funds as a first confidence-building step between the two hostile countries (Read more at Middle East Monitor).
But he appeared to suggest that this was a possibility if the Islamic Republic does not accept a deal on its nuclear program. “We’ll have to see. I’m going to be meeting with various people over the next couple of days. Hopefully, that can be worked out without having to worry about it,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office, when asked about the possibility of an Israeli strike (Read more at JNS).
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Esmaeil Baghaei, said that the move, which will impose harsher economic penalties than the Biden administration had applied to the Houthis, was “an excuse to apply anti-human sanctions against the Yemeni people” (Read more at Middle East Monitor).
"We did not know about October 7... We were supposed to have a meeting with the Americans on JCPOA renewal on October 9, which was undermined and destroyed by this operation," Zarif said at the World Economic Forum in Davos (Read more at Barrons).
He said, “There’s a one in trillion chance you’ll degrade the Iranian nuclear program through diplomacy...There’s a 90% chance you’ll degrade it through military action by Israel, supported by the United States. So the next topic I will be engaging in with President Trump is to take this moment in time to decimate the Iran nuclear program because they’re so exposed.” (Read more at Politico)
He has pleaded guilty to leaking secret documents about Israel’s plans to strike Iran last year during a period of escalating regional tensions linked to Israel’s war on Gaza and Lebanon. He is scheduled to be sentenced on May 15 and faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison (Read more at Aljazeera).
Sala, 29, a freelance reporter for Il Foglio newspaper and a podcaster at Chora News, returned to Italy last week after being released by Iran following her arrest in Tehran on December 19 (Read more at ANSA).
The world must return to a policy of "maximum pressure" against Iran to turn it into a more democratic country, U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's incoming Ukraine envoy Keith Kellogg told an Iranian opposition event in Paris on Saturday (Read more at MSN).
The war games take place as Iranian leaders face the risk that Trump could empower Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to attack Iran's nuclear sites, while further tightening U.S. sanctions on its oil industry through his "maximum pressure" policy (Read more at Reuters).
Yakuza leader Takeshi Ebisawa and a co-defendant had previously been charged in April 2022 with drug trafficking and firearms offences, and both were remanded. The military weaponry to be part of the arms deal included surface-to-air missiles (Read more at Guardian).
Abedini is wanted by the United States on suspicion of involvement in a drone strike against U.S. forces in Jordan. Iran has denied involvement and said last week the detention of the Iranian national amounted to hostage-taking (Read more at DeccanHerald).
A former engineer at a semiconductor manufacturer pleaded not guilty on Friday to U.S. charges that he illegally procured technology for an Iranian firm that made a key component of a drone used in a January attack by Iran-backed militants in Jordan that killed three U.S. service members (Read more at Reuters).
The United States has charged an alleged officer of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) with “terrorism and murder” over the killing of a US citizen in Iraq in 2022 (Read more at Aljazeera).
Washington sees this moment as an opportunity to further push back Iran’s influence in the region. Blinken visited the US embassy in Baghdad and said he spoke to Sudani about the situation in Syria. Blinken and Sudani discussed “the conviction of so many countries in the region and beyond that, as Syria transitions from the Assad dictatorship to hopefully a democracy, it does so in a way that, of course, protects all of the minorities in Syria that produces an inclusive, non-sectarian government,” Blinken said, adding that Syria should not become a “platform for terrorism” (Read more at Arab Weekly).
He also claimed Iranian intelligence had sent warnings to the Assad government about a possible attack for three months and predicted Syrian youth would eventually recapture the country, remarks that are unlikely to make it easier for Iran to build strong relations with the new leaders in Damascus (Read more at Guardian).
Biden’s new document orders various arms of the US government to restructure groups currently organised by region to better focus on issues linking the four countries that span Europe and Asia. The document’s strategies and policy suggestions could be implemented — or rejected altogether — by president-elect Trump (Read more at Selangor).
The Biden administration ramped up its sanctions on Iran, targeting 35 entities and vessels that it said transported illicit Iranian petroleum to foreign markets. The sanctions build on those previously imposed on Oct. 11 and come in response to Iran’s Oct. 1 attack on Israel and to its announced nuclear escalations (Read more at Boereport).
International Coalition warplanes overnight Monday targeted sites belonging to the Iranian militias in Al-Quriyah and Al-Mayadeen in the countryside of Deir Ezzor in eastern Syria, using heavy machine guns, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reported. There is no information about human losses so far (Read more at Jewish Press).
European and Iranian officials made little progress in meetings on Friday on whether they could engage in serious talks, including over Iran's disputed nuclear programme, before Donald Trump returns to the White House in January. A European official said there had been nothing of note in the meeting but that Tehran had shown an eagerness to explore how diplomacy could work in next few weeks (Read more at Reuters).
The U.S. agency is scrutinizing whether JPMorgan complied with all rules and regulations when it took on UAE-based hedge fund Ocean Leonid Investments as a client. U.S. federal law requires financial institutions to monitor for suspicious activity in an effort to prevent illicit funds from flowing through the country (Read more at USNews).
“If we look at the recent appointments the president has made, none of them are isolationists and almost all of them have publicly condemned the Iranian terror regime in the strongest possible terms,” said Dan Diker, president of the Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs (Read more at JNS).
Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi on Saturday strongly denied a reported meeting between Tehran's United Nations envoy and U.S. billionaire Elon Musk (Read more at Ariana).
The meeting between Elon Musk and Iran’s ambassador to the United Nations , if confirmed, could offer an early indication that Trump is not foreclosing the option of diplomacy with Iran. It would also show again the extraordinary influence of Musk, the owner of Tesla and X who has been a near constant presence at Trump’s side, reportedly joining him on telephone calls with world leaders (Read more at Arab Weekly).
The U.S. Treasury Department said on Thursday that New York-based insurer MetLife's (MET.N), opens new tab unit, American Life Insurance Co, agreed to settle its potential civil liability for over 2,300 apparent violations of sanctions against Iran. The Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control announced a $178,421 settlement with the MetLife unit (Read more at Reuters).
Contact was reportedly at Trump-allied billionaire’s request and could be significant for dismal US-Iranian relations. It happened on Monday, a day before Donald Trump named the SpaceX founder as one of the heads of the newly created Department of Government Efficiency. The meeting was a discussion of how to defuse tensions between Iran and the United States (Read more at Guardian).
Stricter targeting of Iranian oil could be tempered by China concerns. Trump will need to determine if sanctions can help achieve his goals. Foreign ports, refineries processing Iran exports could be targeted (Read more at Reuters).
It had been won by family members of troops killed and injured in the 1983 bombing of the U.S. Marine Corps barracks in Beirut. The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan said a lower court judge should have addressed questions of state law before ruling against Bank Markazi and Luxembourg intermediary Clearstream Banking, a unit of Deutsche Boerse. In a 3-0 decision, the panel also rejected a claim that a 2019 federal law designed to make it easier to seize Iranian assets held outside the United States waived Bank Markazi's sovereign immunity (Read more at Yahoo).
Iran's foreign ministry is aware of reports about the arrest of Iranian-American journalist Reza Valizadeh in Iran, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei. Earlier this month, the Associated Press reported that Reza Valizadeh, an Iranian-American journalist who once worked for a U.S. government-funded broadcaster, was believed to have been detained by Iran for some months (Read more at Reuters).
“Now … a new scenario is fabricated … as a killer does not exist in reality, scriptwriters are brought in to manufacture a third-rate comedy,” Araqchi said in a post on X. He was referring to the alleged plot which Washington said was ordered by Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards to assassinate Trump. “The American people have made their decision. And Iran respects their right to elect the President of their choice. The path forward is also a choice. It begins with respect,” Araqchi said (Read more at Iranpost).
“To us it does not matter at all who has won the American election, because our country and system relies on its inner strength and a great and honorable nation,” Pezeshkian said late on Wednesday, quoted by the state news agency IRNA (Read more at Arabnews).
U.N. nuclear watchdog chief Rafael Grossi said on Wednesday he might head to Iran in the coming days to discuss its disputed atomic programme and that he expected to work cooperatively with U.S. President-elect Donald Trump. Grossi had previously said he hoped to go to Tehran ahead of the Nov. 5 U.S. vote as he seeks to resolve several long-standing issues that have dogged relations between Iran, the International Atomic Energy Agency and Western power (Read more at Reuters).
Cracking down on OPEC-member Iran would support global oil prices, but the effect could also be offset by other Trump policies, from measures to expand domestic drilling, the imposition of tariffs on China that could depress economic activity, or an easing of relations with Russia that could unfetter its sanctioned crude shipments (Read more at MSN).
The supreme leader did not elaborate on the timing of the threatened attack, nor the scope. The U.S. military operates on bases throughout the Middle East, with some troops now manning a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense, or THAAD, battery in Israel. Any further attacks from either side could engulf the wider Middle East, already teetering over the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip and Israel’s ground invasion of Lebanon, into a wider regional conflict just ahead of the U.S. presidential election this Tuesday (Read more at NPR).
Iran faces diminished leverage if Trump wins Nov. 5 US election. Trump could grant Israel green light to hit Iran nuclear sites. Possible US-Saudi defence pact to shift balance of power. Tehran recognises 'new architecture' in making in Middle East. Iran's accelerated nuclear enrichment programme raising alarm (Read more at Reuters).
Linda Thomas-Greenfield, U.S. Ambassador to the UN said, ""The United States did not participate in this military operation. Rather, we encouraged the government of Israel to shape the operation as it did. Again, a targeted, proportional and direct response to degrade Iran's ability to threaten its neighbors, deter further attacks and reduce the risk of further escalation (Read more at YahooNews).
US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin warned Tehran against responding to Israel's strikes on military sites in Iran and said he stressed in a call to his Israeli counterpart the opportunities to de-escalate tensions in the region (TRTWorld).
An Iranian hacking group is actively scouting U.S. election-related websites and American media outlets as Election Day nears, with activity suggesting preparations for more "direct influence operations," according to a Microsoft blog (Read more at AOL).
Prosecutors have said that the defendants had plotted to lure Alinejad out of her house by asking her for flowers from her garden then gun her down. U.S. prosecutors have previously charged other suspects in the case, including one man in 2022 and two more in January 2023. Tuesday's filing did not name the alleged victim, but one of the previously charged suspects in the case was arrested for having a rifle outside the Brooklyn home of journalist and activist Masih Alinejad, Reuters reported (Read more at ArianaNews).
"Foreign actors, particularly Russia, Iran and China, remain intent on fanning divisive narratives to divide Americans and undermine Americans' confidence in the U.S. democratic system. These activities are consistent with what these actors perceive to be in their interests, even as their tactics continue to evolve," said one official from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (Read more at MSN).
The proposal, which was previewed in March, implements an executive order issued earlier this year by President Joe Biden which aims to keep foreign adversaries from using accessible American financial and genomic data and health data for cyber attacks, espionage and blackmail (Read more at Business Standard).
The decision by the US Court of Appeals in Manhattan could remove legal obstacle to the longstanding case proceeding to trial. Last year, the US Supreme Court ruled Halkbank wasn’t shielded from prosecution by a US statute granting immunity to governments for official acts (Read more at MSN).
"The United States will bear full responsibility for its role in instigating, inciting and enabling any acts of aggression by Israel against the Islamic Republic of Iran ... as well as for the catastrophic consequences on regional and international peace and security," Iran's U.N. mission said in a letter to the U.N. Security Council (Read more at USNews).
The documents marked top secret first appeared online via a channel on Telegram based in Tehran, claiming they had been leaked by someone in the U.S. intelligence community, then later the U.S. Defense Department. The information appeared entirely gathered through the use of satellite image analysis. The documents are attributed to the U.S. Geospatial Intelligence Agency and National Security Agency, and note that Israel was still moving military assets in place to conduct a military strike. They were sharable within the “Five Eyes,” which are the U.S., Great Britain, Canada, New Zealand and Australia (Read more at Associated Press).
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has issued a warning to the United States after President Joe Biden said he knows “how and when” Israel would attack Iran. “Anybody with knowledge or understanding of ‘how and when Israel was going to attack Iran’, and/or providing the means and backing for such folly, should logically be held accountable for any possible causality,” Araghchi said on his X account (Read more at IRNA).
"There's an opportunity in my view and my colleagues agree that we can probably deal with Israel and Iran in a way that ends the conflict for a while. That ends the conflict, in other words, that stops the back and forth," Biden said. Biden also said he has an understanding of how and when Israel was going to retaliate against missile attacks by Iran. He declined to elaborate (Read more at USNews).
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Monday said indirect talks with the US through its intermediary Oman have stopped as Tehran "does not see a basis" for them amid wars and heightened tension in the region (Read more at The National).
President Biden quietly tasked his National Security Council to warn Iran that the US would view any Tehran-backed assassination attempts against former President Donald Trump as an act of war, according to a report. Behind the scenes, the Harris-Biden administration has reportedly pressed Iran to halt its plottings against Trump and other former members of his administration amid elevated security threats from the US adversary (Read more at New York Post).
The statements from a senior Biden administration official and a spokesperson from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) complement earlier comments from CIA Director William Burns, who stated this week that there is no evidence suggesting that Iran’s leadership has reversed its 2003 decision to halt its nuclear weaponization efforts. “We assess that the Supreme Leader has not made a decision to resume the nuclear weapons program that Iran suspended in 2003,” said the ODNI spokesperson, referring to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei (Read more at Matzav).
As part of their attempts to avoid being caught in the crossfire, Gulf states including Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Qatar are also refusing to let Israel fly over their airspace for any attack on Iran and have conveyed this to Washington. The moves by the Gulf states come after a diplomatic push by Tehran to persuade its Gulf neighbors to use their influence with Washington amid rising concerns Israel could target Iran's oil production facilities (Read more at Daily Sabah).
The U.S. State Department and Treasury working in coordination said the actions intensify financial pressure on Iran, limiting the regime’s ability to earn critical energy revenues to undermine stability in the region and attack U.S. partners and allies. "In response to Iran’s attack on Israel, the United States is taking decisive action to further disrupt the Iranian regime’s ability to fund and carry out its destabilizing activity,” said Secretary of the Treasury Janet L. Yellen (Read more at Maritime Executive).
U.S. President Joe Biden, speaking to reporters, said he has authorized security to protect Trump as if he were a sitting president, and if Trump’s request falls in that category it should be granted (Read more at News Nation Now).
"The Israelis have not concluded what they are going to do in terms of a strike. That's under discussion," Biden said. Biden was also asked if he thought that by not engaging in diplomacy, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was trying to influence the Nov. 5 U.S. election in which Republican former President Donald Trump faces Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris. "Whether he is trying to influence the election, I don't know but I am not counting on that," Biden said in response. "No administration has done more to help Israel than I have." (Read more at Reuters)
When asked by a reporter if he supported Israel striking Iran’s oil facilities, Biden said, “we’re discussing that. I think that would be a little… anyway.” Biden said he did not expect any immediate action from Israel — even if Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has recently paid little heed to calls for restraint as he targets the Iran-allied Hezbollah militia in Lebanon (Read more at Defense Post).
US Vice President Kamala Harris condemned Iran's "reckless and brazen" missile attack against Israel "unequivocally." "As I have said, I will always ensure Israel has the ability to defend itself against Iran and Iran-backed terrorist militias. My commitment to the security of Israel is unwavering," Harris said (Read more at Anadolu Agency).
The U.S. CIA on Wednesday launched a new drive to recruit informants in China, Iran and North Korea, adding to what it says has been a successful effort to enlist Russians (Read more at USNews).
The Republican presidential nominee made the comments after being asked Tuesday if he believed he "should have been tougher on Iran" following the attack. "What does injured mean? You mean because they had a headache? Because the bombs never hit the fort?" Trump said (Read more at Axios).
Other US officials warned Iran would face “severe consequences”, with State Department spokesman Matthew Miller telling reporters he was not “ruling anything out”. Former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett explicitly called for such an attack in a post on X, saying Israel must “act now to destroy Iran’s nuclear program”. “We have the justification. We have the tools”, Bennett said (Read more at Aljazeera).
Two U.S. guided-missile destroyers destroyed a handful of Iranian missiles using a combination of weapons, including the Standard Missile 3, a U.S. official confirmed to USNI News on Wednesday. USS Bulkeley (DDG-84) and USS Cole (DDG-67) fired about a dozen interceptors at Iranian missiles fired at Israel, the Pentagon said Tuesday (Read more at US Navy Institute).
The United States warned Iran that it would face severe consequences for its ballistic missile attack on Israel on Tuesday, saying the barrage marked a significant escalation but appeared to have been thwarted. Biden was reported to have urged Netanyahu to “take the win” and refrain from retaliation after Iran’s April attack to avoid a wider regional war, given that Israel was largely unscathed (Read more at Swissinfo).
U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin spoke to his Israeli counterpart late on Tuesday, hours after Iran's missile attack on Israel following Israel's military campaign in Lebanon, and said Washington was "well-postured" to defend its interests in the Middle East. "The minister and I expressed mutual appreciation for the coordinated defense of Israel against nearly 200 ballistic missiles launched by Iran and committed to remain in close contact," Austin said separately in a post on X (Read more at AOL).
Iran launched around 180 ballistic missiles toward Israel in a two-wave attack on Tuesday that U.S. and Israeli officials say was largely repelled. This was Iran's largest-scale attack ever against Israel (Read more at Axios).
The president said the attack appears to have been "defeated and ineffective." "This is testament to Israeli military capability and the U.S. military," Biden said in his first on-camera remarks on the issue. "It's also a testament to intensive planning between the United States and Israel to anticipate and defend against the brazen attack we expected." "Make no mistake, the United States is fully, fully, fully supportive of Israel," Biden added (Read more at ABC).
In the statement, Tehran called Israel’s Friday assassination of Hezbollah’s Secretary-General Seyyed Hassan Nasrallah a war crime that breached Lebanon’s territorial integrity. It also put the blame directly at Washington’s feet. "The U.S. government is directly responsible and complicit in the Zionist regime’s crime as a supporter and accomplice in continuing to commit various international crimes and terrorist acts." (Read more at TehranTimes)
The three men -- Masoud Jalili, Seyyed Ali Aghamiri and Yasar Balaghi -- were trying to undermine Trump's campaign, Attorney General Merrick Garland told a news conference on Friday. "We are seeing increasingly aggressive Iranian cyber activity during this election cycle," he said. The indictment says the three men used fake email accounts to trick several campaign officials into believing they were dealing with a trusted source, and then got them to click on links that allowed the hackers to steal emails and other internal documents, such as debate preparation material and profiles of potential vice presidential candidates (Read more at USNews).
Former Federal Aviation Administration contractor Abouzar Rahmati, 42, a naturalized U.S. citizen and resident of Great Falls, Virginia, was indicted today for acting and conspiring to act as an illegal agent of the Iranian government in the United States (Read more at DOJ)
Iran said on Thursday that accusations it had targeted former U.S. officials were baseless, after former U.S. president Donald Trump implicated Iran, without offering evidence, in assassination attempts against him. "It is obvious that such accusations are just a part of creating the election atmosphere in the U.S...., and not even worth a response," Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson Nasser Kanaani said in a statement (Read more at AOL).
Four ships associated with the fleet of Syrian shipping magnate, Abdul Jalil Mallah, who was sanctioned by the US in 2021, and his brother, Luay Al-Mallah, were among the vessels included in Wednesday’s action, the Treasury Department said in a statement. Luay Al-Mallah was designated under US sanctions on Wednesday. The brothers have “continued to use their shipping empire to support Iran’s malign activities and those of its proxies,” Treasury said (Read more at Middle East Monitor).
“President Trump was briefed earlier today by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence [ODNI] regarding real and specific threats from Iran to assassinate him in an effort to destabilize and sow chaos in the United States,” Steven Cheung, the ex-president campaign’s communications director, said in a statement (Read more at The Hill).
The incidents that occurred before Biden suspended his campaign mark "the latest example of Iran's multipronged approach" to "stoke discord and undermine confidence" in the U.S. electoral process, per a joint statement from the FBI, CISA and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (Read more at Axios).
Iran's leaders hope to see an easing of U.S. sanctions over its nuclear programme. It is unclear whether the Europeans and Iranians can find areas for compromise in New York. Kelsey Davenport, director of non-proliferation policy at the Arms Control Association advocacy group, said substantive talk before the U.S. election were unlikely. But interim steps, such as Iran receiving some sanctions relief in return for expanding IAEA monitoring of its nuclear facilities, could be possible (Read more at USNews).
The measures come two years after the death of Kurdish-Iranian woman Mahsa Amini while in police custody. The sanctions focus on members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), Iranian prison officials, and those involved in lethal operations abroad, according to a statement from the US Treasury Department (Read more at Indian Express).
The United States, Germany, Britain and France on Tuesday imposed new sanctions on Iran, including measures against its national airline Iran Air. Araqchi said that Tehran had not delivered any ballistic missiles to Russia and sanctions imposed on Iran by the United States and three European powers would not solve any problems between them (Read more at Business Standard).
White House national security spokesperson John Kirby told reporters that new sanctions on Iran Air would restrict its commercial flights from Iran to British and continental Europe. "The supply of these Iranian missiles, which have a maximum range of about 75 miles, could allow Russia to use more of its arsenal for targets beyond the front line while employing Iranian warheads for closer-range targets," Kirby said. Kirby said it would also be dangerous for the Middle East that Iran would now be able to avail itself of Russian technology, including on nuclear issues (Read more at USNews).
Nnnamed US and European officials believe Iran has already provided ballistic missiles to Russia. White House National Security Council spokesperson Sean Savett stated that any missile transfer from Iran to Russia would be a "dramatic escalation" in their military partnership. However, Savett did not confirm whether the transfer had already occurred (Read more at Tribune).
(Reuters) - The White House convened a meeting with representatives of Amazon.com, Alphabet's Google, Microsoft, Cloudflare and civil society activists in a bid to encourage U.S. tech giants to offer more digital bandwidth for government-funded internet censorship evasion tools. The tools, supported by the U.S.-backed Open Technology Fund (OTF), have seen a surge of usage in Russia, Iran, Myanmar and authoritarian states that heavily censor the internet (Read more at USNews).
The two were found in the water when a US inflatable boat and helicopter took them in from the water. They were taken to the USS Theodore Roosevelt to receive medical care, as well as food and water (Read more at The National).
It says it targets the American public with influence operations aimed at fanning political discord (Read more at Reuters).
Israeli and U.S. officials tell Axios Iran has taken significant preparatory steps in its missile and drone units, similar to those it had taken before the attack on Israel in April (Read more at Axios).
"We obviously don't want to see Israel have to defend itself against another onslaught, like they did in April. But, if that's what comes at them, we will continue to help them defend themselves," Kirby said. But a U.S. official told Reuters the Lincoln carrier strike group was currently close to the South China Sea and would likely take over a week to reach the Middle East (Read more at Reuters).
The US Secretary of Defense ordered the USS Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group to replace the USS Theodore Roosevelt Carrier Strike Group and to send additional cruisers and destroyers which have a system for intercepting ballistic missiles to the U.S. European Command and U.S. Central Command regions. The Department is also taking steps to increase their readiness to deploy additional land-based ballistic missile defense and deploy additional fighter jet squadron (Read more at Axios).
It is quoted that “these negotiations were not the first and will not be the last.” (Read more at Defense Post).
The talks — involving President Biden's top Middle East adviser, Brett McGurk, and Abram Paley the acting U.S. envoy for Iran — were the first round of discussions between the U.S. and Iran since January, when similar negotiations were held in Oman. The sources said the talks focused on clarifying the consequences of actions by Iran and its proxies in the region and to discuss U.S. concerns regarding the status of Iran's nuclear program (Read more at Axios).
US deputy ambassador Robert Wood told the UN Security Council that there is extensive evidence that Iran is providing advanced weapons, including ballistic and cruise missiles, to the Houthis in violation of UN sanctions. The Houthis have launched more than 50 attacks on shipping, seized one vessel and sunk another since November, the US Maritime Administration said late last month. Houthi attacks have dropped in recent weeks as the rebels have been targeted by a US-led airstrike campaign in Yemen (Read more at IrishExaminer).
Brian Nelson, Treasury's undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, was speaking during a four-day visit to Singapore and Malaysia, which the department said aimed to advance its work in countering financing and revenue generation by Iran and its proxies (Read more at USNews).
there has been an uptick in money moving to Iran and its proxies, including Hamas, through the Malaysian financial system. Treasury's under secretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, Brian Nelson, is expected to discuss U.S. concerns. The visit comes as Treasury has increased its focus on terrorist financing through Southeast Asia, including through fundraising efforts and illicit Iranian oil sales (Read more at USNews).
These actors targeted more than a dozen US companies and government entities through cyber operations, including spear phishing and malware attacks (Read more at Defense Post).
It can also identify up to 100 aerial targets simultaneously and engage them with Sayyad-4B missiles. With the Bavar’s alleged enhanced capabilities, several Iranian officials are claiming that the system now matches or even surpasses the capabilities of the Russian S-400 missile system (Read more at Defense Post).
The new package of penalties is aimed at disrupting Iran’s production of drones that were used in the attack. They also target Iran’s steel industry and automotive companies that supply the country’s military. The Republican-led House this week passed a series of sanctions bills, including a bipartisan measure that would target China’s purchase of Iranian oil (Read more at Politico).
President Biden, since the beginning of this conflict, has worked very hard to keep this from becoming a broader regional war. If successful, this attack could have caused an uncontrollable escalation and broad regional conflict, something we have worked day and night to avoid since October 7 (Read more at CNBC).
Iran retaliatory attack would include a swarm of Shahed loitering drones and cruise missiles, citing US intelligence. US President Joe Biden discussed the threat from Iran in a phone call on Thursday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Officials say the timing and target are unknown, but a proportional response to the Damascus attack would be to hit an Israeli diplomatic facility (Read more at TRTWorld).
Deputy U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Robert Wood said, "We will not hesitate to defend our personnel and repeat our prior warnings to Iran and its proxies not to take advantage of the situation - again, an attack in which we had no involvement or advanced knowledge - to resume their attacks on U.S. personnel." (Read more at MSN).
The rare message shows the Biden administration is deeply concerned that the Israeli strike could lead to a regional escalation and the resumption of attacks by pro-Iranian militias against U.S. forces. Israel notified the Biden administration a few minutes before its air force conducted the strike but didn't ask for a U.S. green light, Israeli and U.S. officials said (Read more at Axios).
Panama is the largest ship registration hub in the world. Over 8,000 vessels sail under its flag, representing about 16 percent of the global fleet. Abram Paley, the US Deputy Special Envoy for Iran said that six vessels that violated US sanctions have flown the Panamanian flag since the start of this year. In January last year, the Panamanian maritime authority withdrew its flag from over 130 Iranian-linked vessels at Washington’s request (Read more at The Cradle).
The talks underline how the Biden administration is using diplomatic channels with its foe, alongside military deterrents, in a bid to de-escalate a wave of regional hostilities involving Iranian-backed militant groups. US officials acknowledge that military action alone will not be enough to deter the Houthis, and believe that ultimately Tehran will need to pressure the group to curb its activities (Read more at Financial Times).
The U.S. has yet to confirm that missiles have moved from Iran to Russia. But U.S. officials are alarmed by comments by Iranian officials that suggest that a deal is imminent. One action that the Group of Seven countries are mulling is to prohibit Iran Air, the country’s national air carrier, from flying to Europe (Read more at ABCNews).
"We believe we have come to the point that we and the broader international community must consider anew how to respond to Iran's continued stonewalling," the United States said in a statement to the Board meeting. "We cannot allow Iran's current pattern of behavior to continue." (Read more at USNews).
The U.S. Treasury Department said in a statement the entities - a subsidiary of Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and an organization affiliated with Russia's military intelligence agency (GRU) - aimed to "stoke socio-political tensions and influence the U.S. electorate during the 2024 U.S. election" (Read more at Reuters).
The United States targeted Iranian and Houthi commanders and a vessel that shipped more than $100 million in Iranian commodities to businesses in China in sanctions announced on Tuesday (Read more at USNews).
National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said Iran has been sending “significant numbers” of drones, guided aerial bombs and artillery ammunition to Russia, and the US is closely monitoring whether Iran has transferred any close-range ballistic missiles”. He added, "I can assure you that the response in the international community will be swift and it will be severe.” (Read more at The National).
The nuclear materials came from Myanmar, with defendant Takeshi Ebisawa accused of selling them to a US undercover agent. The nuclear material came from an unidentified leader of an "ethnic insurgent group" in Myanmar who had been mining uranium in the country (Read more at Skynews).
Analysts say the current escalation is dangerously prone to overreach and miscalculation that could lead to a direct U.S.-Iran conflict. American troops number 2,500 in Iraq and 900 in Syria. About the proxies, Renad Mansour, head of the Iraq Initiative at the Chatham House says, “The word ‘proxy’ here is difficult, because it implies just working entirely on behalf of someone else. These groups have their own interests.” (Link)
The cyberattack took place a week ago as part of a government response to a drone attack that killed three U.S. service members in Jordan late last month and wounded dozens of others. It is said that the ship had been collecting intelligence on cargo vessels (Link).
